Images

Introduction

This ancestor is a fragment of a birdstone, with a raised tail. It is made of smooth meta-rhythmite and is dark green-grey in colour with light grey laminations. It is a fragment of the bottom half of the birdstone. This fragment is perforated through its base on both ends although the front perforation is broken. Following the breakage of its head, five holes were drilled around its neck. The wear observed on these perforations indicate that they were used to attach something where the head used to be. On the right side of its body, five incised lines expand from the back like rays. This ancestor does contain minor scratches. Currently, this birdstone resides at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The term birdstone is a legacy of earlier archaeological work and does not consider the full variety in shape and functionality these relatives may have had within Indigenous communities. We invite Great Lakes nations to help us improve our understanding of how to identify and name these relatives. Birdstones have been found and collected from various contexts including hearths inside houses, in fields, and burial contexts. To the best of our knowledge, none of the birdstones in GRASAC’s Knowledge Sharing Platform come from burial contexts.

Nation of Maker: Unknown

Reasons for connecting this relative with particular nation(s)

It is difficult to know the cultural origin of this ancestor due to the unknown context of its collection, its age and the fact that birdstones have been found throughout the American northeast. It may have travelled long distances, making its origin unknown.

Place of Origin: Ontario, CAN

Date Made or Date Range: Ca. 3000-2000 BP

Summary of Source(s) for this Relative

Information from this entry comes from the ROM's catalogue alongside Dr. Tiziana Gallo's research on Birdstones.

Do You Have Knowledge to Contribute? Share with Us.